Here's a surprise - I went to the Midwest Gaming Classic again this year. Totally shocking, I know. OK, OK, that was sarcasm to anyone visiting this site for the first time. I've gone to every show since 2004, even the ones in the middle of a blizzard. My visit this year was the shortest I think. I was only there a few hours. I enjoy the show as much as ever but this year it landed during a very busy stretch for me. If I'm counting right, this is the 20th time I've attended so it's OK.
Time for the usual disclaimers:
Alright, let's get to it...
Homemade items in the vendor area are not new. This year though the number of vendors with 3D printed items exploded. These cartridges are much larger than they look in this picture.
In case you're curious what TurboGrafx-16 and CD-i games go for there.
Outside of a few boxed items, Atari 2600 stuff has largely been relegated to bins under the table. I thought the recently released 2600/7800 reproduction systems might result in a small run on cartridges but obviously not.
These 3D printed key chains looked very nice. I bought a Chrono Trigger one since I just upgraded Yubikeys the previous day.
I think these are for Cosplay maybe?
Another under the table bin of cheap games.
I think the market for Japanese Game Boy games is oversaturated. There were a couple vendors with full bins that weren't getting much attention.
On the flip side, Pokemon Game Boy titles remain as expensive as ever (probably more than ever).
There were not a ton of Japanese DS games, this was about all I saw.
Not my thing but I assume this is a low price.
Some mystery envelopes from the same vendor.
If people are actually paying $70 for loose Saturn analog controllers then maybe I will be able to retire after all.
These Persona 5 coasters are another homemade item. They look nice but I have too many coasters already. Every year I buy less.
This is a pretty common selection & price range for Genesis games there.
This is a really fun homemade item.
This wins the most chaotic bin award.
Dang, $300 for a rather old, and rather heavy CRT. I get it, if you can't live without old-school light gun games what else are you going to do?
Yeah, I will never find an original one of these cheap.
Here is another bin of Game Boy games, with some Game Gear mixed in.
I assume those displays are old dumpster dive finds. Good for them I guess.
Here's what boxed Super Nintendo games go for.
One vendor was selling a ton of Gamecube controllers. They were nice enough to provide this little test area for them. I want to find an old mini TV like this now.
I think Japanese game prices across the board have cratered in recent years.
At least three vendors had a huge selection of these imported blind box toys (there's probably a real term for them I'm not recalling).
Alright, last photo from the vendor area. Time to move on.
Sorry this is such a bad picture. This is a Virtual Boy tribute in the gaming area.
The homebrew game area was again large with a wide diversity of games. Also a wide diversity in completeness, this game was a very early build that showed promise.
8 Bit Brix is a virtual Lego game for the NES.
Atari, or the company that owns the name Atari, had a section with all their latest hardware.
Somehow I caught this brief moment when these three new Atari cabinets were unattended.
This year they had racers for the PlayStation and Saturn with wheels setup, which is common here. This wheel has seen better days though.
Here's Dig Dug on the Atari 5200. It's standard fare for the 5200 - it looks great for the time but is challenging to control.
I was duped by this.
I am probably wrong when I say this is the first year I saw the Taito G-Net setup.
There is usually a CD-i hooked-up to try. This time it had Pac-Panic which is better known as Pac-Attack.
This is after dying on Smurf for the ColecoVision. One of the earliest platformers which is very difficult because touching anything is fatal.
I spent a while in the section dedicated to modding consoles into portable form. These projects are all amazing.
A portable NES and Super Nintendo.
And a portable Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64.
This one was fun to see, a Game Boy Advance fit into a Tiger LCD case.
With the Switch 2 news about playing Gamecube games I have to give up on the dream of Nintendo making a mini system like these.
It's Spacewar, one of the earliest video games. I would call it the earliest but don't have the mental strength to deal with a "well but actually" email.
Video Pinball is the last picture this year, even though I'm sure I have this in previous recaps.
As usual I heavily encourage visiting the Midwest Gaming Classic when you can. This gallery doesn't do the show justice.
Related